Not having a brain has proved to me how important that organ is, even to accomplishing simple daily tasks others take for granted. I have been saddened by the number of my classmates, who are also suffering from cancer or other serious illnesses that have made "living" harder. It makes me wonder if the water in my hometown of Hillsboro, Oregon was contaminated.
The latest case and point? My classmate Paula. I thought my cancer was bad, but she has cancer on her liver. That's a lot of pain, and a frighteningly long surgery (8hours). I've been struggling with how best to help her. What I do know is that you can live with cancer, and I have tried to assure her of this. I also know it's not pretty-- a lot of worry, fatigue, nausea and sometimes pain. And there's the commuting to, and waiting at doctor's offices, sometimes just for the privilege of getting no useful news, or bad news. A patient has to pull his or herself up from the bootstraps, and tell his or herself that that it's worth it.
1 comment:
I get caught up in my arthritis. Often I wonder where the balance is between sharing my life (my disease) with my friends, and obsessing on my disease. How much information is too much? How little information is ignoring a big part of my life?
I think you do a great job of sharing your life.
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